sneak into 2nd class toilets

Saturday 6th April

Steam out of Wuhan with the tannoy singing Colonel bogey! The on ship music is quite good, a mixture of classical, dance tunes, and the occasional Chinese wail. A bonus is that it is turned off for long periods.
Noodles for breakfast.
Miserable day. One other Englishmen on board, getting off tonight. He has no books to swap and I’ve finished both The Honorary Consul and The Dogs of War. He is only half way through Tess of the D’Aubervilles.
Meet Professor Zui of Shanghai Fudian university, physics and electricity. He speaks good English. He was at a conference in London in 1982, and is going again this year. Disappointed to find that the second Class lounge is shut, but enjoy a private shit in a second Class toilet.
Discuss the details of the world tour with my new dorm friends. The eldest fellow is 53 and tall, he smokes and drinks a lot of vodka. He was in the army 20 years ago. The youngest looks like a teddy bear, round and innocent, he is a driving instructor in the People’s Liberation Army. They all have woolly underwear. The third is 51 and quiet and serious. He is a teacher of some sort and speaks Russian.
My cold is better, although I still run to snot in wind. More interesting is the patch of eczema two inches above my navel. Well, it was obviously a herald patch of Pityriasis. I now look quite alarming in the pale morning light.
Write several letters with a big crowd watching.